Editing Sam Kinison (section)

==Career==
Kinison began his career in [[Houston|Houston, Texas]], where he performed in small clubs. He became a member of a comedic group at the [[Comedy Workshop]], known as the [[Texas Outlaw Comics]], that included [[Bill Hicks]], [[Ron Shock]], Riley Barber, Steve Epstein, Andy Huggins, John Farneti,<ref>{{cite web |url= http://recoverycomedy.com/promo-andy-huggins.html |title=Recovery Comedy is proud to present Andy Huggins |publisher=Recovery Comedy |access-date=May 19, 2014}}</ref> and Jimmy Pineapple.<ref name="gq" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://recoverycomedy.com/promo-jimmy-pineapple.html |title=Recovery Comedy is proud to present Jimmy Pineapple |publisher=Recovery Comedy |access-date=May 19, 2014}}</ref> Hicks cited Kinison as a major influence on his comedic style, noting that "He was the first guy I ever saw to go on stage and not in any way ask the audience to like him."<ref name="gq" /> In 1980, Kinison moved to [[Los Angeles]] hoping to find work at [[The Comedy Store]], but was first employed as a doorman. He soon developed a cocaine and alcohol addiction, quickly progressing to [[freebasing cocaine]], and struggled to gain a foothold in the business until his brother Bill moved to Los Angeles to help manage his career.<ref name="gq" />

His big break came on [[HBO]]'s ''Rodney Dangerfield's Ninth Annual Young Comedians Special'' in August 1985.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6069058/ |title=Kinison: The Scream Continues (2016) |publisher=[[IMDb]] |access-date=November 12, 2016}}</ref> After noting the performance of [[Bob Nelson (comedian)|Bob Nelson]], reviewer [[Stephen Holden]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote, "the most interesting of the other eight comedians is the savagely funny Sam Kinison. Mr. Kinison specializes in a grotesque animalist howl that might be described as the primal scream of the married man."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/08/02/arts/nine-comedians-appear-on-dangerfield-special.html |title=Nine Comedians Appear On Dangerfield Special |work=[[The New York Times]] |author-link=Stephen Holden |last=Holden |first=Stephen |date=August 2, 1985 |access-date=February 27, 2015}}</ref> Kinison would later appear in Rodney Dangerfield's film ''[[Back to School (film)|Back to School]]'' in 1986.

In Kinison's debut television appearance on ''[[Late Night with David Letterman]]'' in 1985, [[David Letterman|Letterman]]'s introduction of Kinison warned his audience, "Brace yourselves. I'm not kidding. Please welcome Sam Kinison."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_VURr6jnWQ |title=Sam Kinison First Appearance on Letterman |date=June 3, 2006 |publisher=YouTube |access-date= May 19, 2014}}</ref> Kinison played on his former role as a Bible-preaching evangelist, taking satirical and sacrilegious shots at the [[Bible]], [[Christianity]] and famous Christian evangelist scandals of his day. Kinison's daring comedy helped shoot him to stardom.<ref name="biography" /> On several videos of his stand-up routines, a shot of the personalized license plate on his 1986 [[Chevrolet Corvette|Corvette]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://lasvegasweekly.com/news/archive/2007/apr/12/sam-kinisons-wild-ride/|title=Sam Kinison's Wild Ride - Las Vegas Weekly|website=lasvegasweekly.com|date=April 12, 2007 }}</ref> reveals the words "EX REV". He was associated with the Los Angeles rock music scene and was occasionally accompanied by a touring band.<ref>''Sam Kinison'', ''Biography Channel'', December 28, 2008.</ref>

[[File:Sam Kinison.jpg|thumb|Kinison in the 1980s|alt=Kinison with his mouth agape]]

[[Howard Stern]] purchased the film rights to Kinison's biography, written by Kinison's brother, at one point (2008) reporting that [[HBO]] would make ''Brother Sam'' with Kinison being played by [[Dan Fogler]].<ref name="BioPic">{{cite news |url=https://variety.com/2008/scene/markets-festivals/brother-sam-set-for-hbo-1117996022/ |title='Brother Sam' set for HBO |first=Michael |last=Fleming |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=November 17, 2008 |access-date= January 22, 2018}}</ref> In an interview with Sam's brother and manager Bill Kinison, Bill mentioned film deals that were in development at the time of his death; one such deal was a film with [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]], and another with [[Rick Moranis]].<ref>Harris, Bill. [http://www.bullz-eye.com/entertainment/interviews/2009/bill_kinison.htm "A Chat with Bill Kinison"]. Bullz-Eye.com. January 13, 2009.</ref>